Pee Wee Chargers win Pop Warner title
For a first-year football team, the kids on the Pee Wee Naperville Chargers are no strangers to each other.
Winning is nothing new, either.
The Chargers advanced to the Pop Warner football Midwest Regionals with a 6-0 win over the Harvey Colts in the Chicagoland Midwest championship game at Bolingbrook High School.
The Chargers, a first-year program in the Pop Warner league, will play the Detroit Knights Saturday in Saline, Mich.
Ten of the 22 kids on the Chargers played on the Naperville Patriots Junior Pee Wee Blue team in the Chicagoland American Youth Football League last year. A handful more played on the other Patriots Junior Pee Wee team.
A core group of the kids, including twins Brendon and Luke Daley, Jack Alberts and Nolan Davis have played football together since second grade. Pee Wee football is for grades six through eight.
"They play all their sports together," said Tim Daley, Brendon and Luke's dad and Chargers head coach. "Everybody on our team had known each other through football prior to this year."
The Chargers have a 7-2 record. Daley had expected the team to take its share of lumps in a new league and improved competition.
"It's been much tougher (than the Chicagoland AYF)," Daley said. "In Pop Warner, there are a lot of inner-city teams that are much faster than us. It's been a pleasant surprise."
Home games have alternated between the football fields at Benedictine University and North Central College.
"It was neat to see kids from the inner city that have broken glass on their home fields get to play on those college fields," Daley said. "It's been a phenomenal experience for our kids. They've been able to see kids who don't have some of the advantages that they do."
The Chargers had beaten Harvey during the regular season. Daley expected to be able to overpower the Colts with an inside running game. Instead they were forced to turn to the air, and Conner Milliren passed to tight end Ryan Kuhl for the game's only score.
Alberts had an interception late in the game. Harvey drove inside the Chargers' 10-yard line three times, but the Naperville defense held.
"The defense looked around at each other and said, 'It's time,' " Daley said.
The low-scoring game shouldn't have surprised the Chargers. Last year, the kids won two games by 6-0 scores to advance to the AYF national tournament in Florida.
"We've never been an offensive powerhouse," Daley said. "We're a defensive team, without a doubt."
Should the Chargers beat the Knights, they would play for the Midwest Regional championship Nov. 23 in Bolingbrook. The winner advances to the Pop Warner national tournament in Orlando.
"I'd like to take a lot of credit for the success," Daley said, "but it's just a bunch of tough, smart, athletic kids. They're always in the right spot. The familiarity helps."
Members of the Chargers include James Doyle, Ryan Kuhl, Ben Brancaleon, Justin Green, Ryan Raupach, Jack Alberts, Jack Grom, Noah Heupel, Josh Belt, Brendon Daley, Ryan Kilani, Nolan Davis, Tyler Joyce, Kevin Hudgens, Conner Milliren, Sam Williams, Luke Daley, Dominick Caputo, Emerson Bandemer, Ben Gleason and Mike Laurenzo.
Daley is assisted by coaches Bob Hudgens, Brian Davis, Erik Milliren, John Brancaleon and Greg Doyle.